Archive for the ‘Mistletoe and Druids’ Category

Tuesday morning I went for an early morning walk to the woods near my house. I wanted to say good bye to the waning Moon. The full Moon in Aries had been so mad and electric for me, so filled with joy and sorrow that I needed a special look before she faded into total darkness.

As I watched the Virgo Moon, tangled in bare branches, three small hawks sailed over the pond where I was standing, Cooper hawks! It reminded me of a poem I wrote long ago:

The Wren Who Became a Hawk–Sarah Fuhro

I was the Wren

who became the hawk.

The winter months

know my flight

among the thorns.

Sought for the flame

I carry in my heart,

who sees me,

sees all.

The Hawk

comes from my nest…

plumage spread,

as a hawk,

I alight on a breeze,

fly high in a spiral

to the sun in the sky…

then plunge into

the cauldron,

where I emerge,

the wren, again.

I was thinking about the new Moon, which will be born on Saturday at 1:38 pm, and wondering what the gift of that Moon will be for all of us. Sun and Moon will reside at 07° of Scorpio. The Sabian Symbol for this degree promises a much needed rest from the fiery energy of Aries which has been with us since the full Moon:

A CALM LAKE BATHED IN MOONLIGHT. A quiet openness to higher inspiration..

The pond where I was walking was already coming into dawn, no moonlight left, only her image still visible in the growing brightness. The Moon was in her last few days before she goes into seclusion with the Sun….

Two degrees next door to Sun and Moon is Mercury, who is often configured as a hawk. Scorpio is connected to secrecy, Mercury is there to tell all, but in an esoteric, occult way, suitable to Scorpio’s mystery. In the season of Samhain, when all we turned upside down, and dark is light and light is dark, Mercury will tell us the secrets of this new Moon, but only if we are willing to listen in a new way.

A new Moon is a new beginning, and all new beginnings have certain dangers associated with them. The entry to a fort or a castle always has a guardian. It might be a dragon:

Or it might be a two-headed ominous figure who will question those who enter (Mercury in Scorpio)!!

As I left my forest walk I found a small key on the ground. It said ‘Gatehouse’ on it.

Later in the day, I received some beautiful photos of a gate to a chapel in Bretagne. An ancient yew tree guards the gate.

Yew has a very strange way of growing. The branches grow into the ground and form new stems. These become separate trees, yet they are connected underground. The original trunk grows old and decays, but a new tree grows inside.

The Yew represents reincarnation, the new year from the old year, Samhain, the new soul as it springs from ancient roots. The spiritual strength of the Yew is renewal, and connection, an explanation of immortality.

The Lunar nodes play an important part in this chart. They are square to Saturn and Venus at this moment of renewal. Ancient knowledge and the power of love are driving the energy of this new Moon. This seems to be another way of telling the story of the Yew. Yew is the fountainhead of youth in age, of age in youth. Saturn represents age, Venus youth, they are the chariot drivers for the Lunar nodes in Virgo and Pisces. Like Merlin and Nimue they hold the memory of the wisdom developed in other times, which is always ready to renew our spirits.